


Cookie-Cutter Smile

by sopheeaboo



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Baking, F/M, How Do I Tag, Seemingly One-Sided Attraction, Unrealized Feelings, at some point this fic just turned into me rambling, hello arashu nation i say in the mirror, holds them gently, pls consider them, she/her pronouns for arashi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27152543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sopheeaboo/pseuds/sopheeaboo
Summary: Just two idols baking. Nothing more, nothing less......right?
Relationships: Narukami Arashi/Itsuki Shu
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> not me shipping ANOTHER rarepair anyways pls enjoy this arashu fic they are so so soft and cute i just 🥺🥺🥺🥺 wahhhh,,,,,, also this is sorta canon-divergent since this is at arashi’s house jdjsjdjdj pls enjoy tho !!!!

The sun was high in the sky on a beautiful Saturday. The sky was a pretty blue color, and clouds were scarce. Cities were bustling with the amount of people in the streets. Everyone in the country was off work, even the members of the famed idol unit, Valkyrie.

One of the members, Shu Itsuki, had recently been invited to Knights’ Arashi Narukami’s house for reasons unknown to the boy. He knew of the girl, and they had talked quite a few times, but they have never really hung out outside of school before. There was a part of Shu that was nervous, since he had no idea what they would be doing there. However, he simply brushed it off, coming to the conclusion that Mika was there too (since his apprentice was best friends with the girl), and they were all just going to hang out together. 

Once the car stopped and Shu thanked the driver, he made his way to the girl’s front doorstep. Shu rapped his knuckles against the door. He checked his watch, making sure he wasn’t too late or too early. 

A click was heard from the door in front of him, and Shu looked up to meet Arashi’s gaze. She was dressed in casual clothing, just a simple 3/4 shirt and pants. Along with her outfit, she wore a beautiful smile.

“Ah, Itsuki! So glad you could make it!” The girl said, gesturing inside, “Please come in!”

Shu nodded, making his way inside and slipping his shoes off, setting them aside. He looked around the girl’s house and found it to be quite...normal. It was a simple two-story house with beige colored walls. The floor was made of wood, and it had a thin hallway connecting the kitchen and dining room. Family photos and plants were set upon various shelves and tables. Arashi’s cat, Nyanko, was also there, asleep on the floor.

“I texted Mika about coming over as well,” Arashi began, “but, unfortunately, he’s caught a small fever.” Shu nodded in understanding. He could hear the concern in Arashi’s voice, “So, it’ll just be me and you today. I hope that’s okay with you.” The girl gave a small smile, and Shu returned the gesture.

“But of course. If I may ask,” Shu changed the subject, “what do you have planned for today, Narukami?”

“Well...” Arashi trailed off, going into the kitchen. She gestured at Shu to follow her, and he did. Arashi then reached into some bottom cupboards and pulled out numerous bowls and cups. She then gathered ingredients such as flour, sugar, and baking powder. Arashi then made her way to a wall, where she grabbed two aprons that were hanging on a rack. She put one on and handed the other to Shu.

“...I was planning on baking some cookies today!”

Baking. It wasn’t exactly Shu’s forte. He had done so around once or twice throughout his entire life, but he didn’t remember what the outcomes were or whether they were disastrous or not. Nonetheless, he would hate to refuse Arashi’s plans, especially since he took great effort into getting to her house. 

Shu took the spare apron from Arashi’s hands, “Alright, then.” 

Arashi smiled again, but this time Shu noticed something...different. It wasn’t coming from Arashi, though. The boy swore he could feel a sense of  butterflies in his stomach. Perhaps he was nervous about baking after such a long time?

“Itsuki, c’mon!” Shu snapped out of his thoughts and found Arashi already preparing the dough. Shu smiled softly, putting on his apron and joining the girl by her side.

Yeah, he was just nervous about baking.


	2. Chapter 2

“...and you just roll the dough out like this!”

Arashi held a rolling pin in her hands as she flattened the dough. Shu watched her movements, fluid and smooth like a willow tree. She rolled the dough out gently. Her hands were placed on top of the center of the pin, pushing it over the dough.

“Now you try.” Arashi then handed the rolling pin to Shu, who took it by the handle. He placed it on top of the dough he had made himself. It wasn’t smooth like Arashi’s just yet, still in its spherical shape.

“Must I hold the base of the pin?” Shu asked Arashi.

“Oh, well, you don’t really  have  to, but you get better control by doing so.”

Shu sighed, “I just don’t want to get dough all over my fingers, so I’d prefer to use the handles.”

Arashi pouted, “Like I said, you don’t  _ have  _ to hold the base.”

“Well, then I won’t.” Shu retorted. He grabbed both handles firmly. 

Despite the two both having the same friend (Mika Kagehira), Arashi and Shu always quarreled. It’s been that way for as long as Shu had known the girl. However, the severity of their banter has lessened throughout the years. Nowadays, Shu could really consider Arashi a lovely companion. Being by her side became more tolerable and less of a pain. It was...nice. He had always wanted to know more about the girl, in truth, but didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, in case she genuinely hated him. Shu found himself quite grateful for Mika’s absence, which allowed for him and Arashi to talk and connect more (it also proved that Arashi didn’t, in fact, hate his guts).

Shu began rolling out his dough ball. Unfortunately, it began to stick the the rolling pin, conforming to its shape. The boy grew frustrated, and began peeling the dough off, grumbling to himself. He felt so embarrassed at the failure Arashi had to witness, but the girl simply chuckled.

“Y’know,” Arashi started, “you’re gonna have to put flour on that to make it not stick.”

Shu scowled, “I-I know that, Narukami!” He then spitefully covered the pin in flour (a little too much flour, actually). Shu then grabbed the pin handles and tried to roll the dough again. This time, he was having difficulties with maneuvering the rolling pin. He would swerve left and right, and his rolling was ungraceful, unlike Arashi’s.

The girl sighed, “Here, let me help you-“

“Non!” Shu rejected, “I can handle such a measly task myself.”

”It’s okay to ask for help-“

”I don’t _need_ assistance-“

“Itsuki.” Arashi’s tone grew serious. Shu looked at her, eyebrows furrowed. She wasn’t wearing her usual pout, the one she normally wore when they argued. Rather, her eyebrows were pointed upwards, and she looked more...concerned.

Shu felt a pang of guilt.

“Tch, fine.” Shu gave in. Arashi offered a side smile and stood behind the boy.

“Wait, where are you-“ Shu’s question was interrupted by a pair of hands on top of his own. Arashi had placed her soft and warm hands on his cold and tense ones, folding her fingers around Shu’s as his grip on the pin handles tightened.

“The key,” Arashi started, “is to work  _ with  _ the dough, not against it.” She then guided Shu’s hands across the dough, gently pushing to flatten it. Her smooth movements were mimicked by Shu, following the flow of her arms as they pushed and pulled. Shu found himself growing flustered. He had never been this close to Arashi before. 

“My, my, you sure are tense.” Arashi commented, causing a faint blush to appear on Shu’s cheeks.

“I’m just m-making sure the pin won’t slip from my hands!” He retorted.

“You need to relax, Itsuki. Like I said, work  with  the dough.”

Shu huffed, “I know! It’s just...”

“...Hard?” Arashi finished his sentence, “I can understand that. Practice is key, though!” She continued teaching him how to roll the dough. As she did, the tension in Shu’s hands gradually lessened. It became rather comfortable to do such an activity with Arashi. She was very understanding and patient with him, scolding him when she needed to.

Shu found that being this close to Arashi was actually quite nice.

“All done!” Arashi suddenly shouted. She let go of Shu’s hands, and a small part of him feltdisappointed, “Now, see how easy that was when you-“

“-Work  _ with  _ the dough, I know.” Shu finished Arashi’s sentence this time. She giggled and walked over to a drawer, pulling out various cookie cutters.

“Now, we can cut out cute shapes!”


	3. Chapter 3

Shu stared down at his and Arashi’s shared creations.

Flowers, hearts, and people-shaped cookies laid on the cooling tray. They had just gotten out of the oven, and smelled wonderful. They were simple sugar cookies, nothing too fancy. Some were a little darker than others, but it was actually rather endearing, in a way. It really emphasized the fact that these were homemade cookies.

“Don’t they smell divine?” Arashi asked. Her sudden comment made Shu jolt in surprise, resulting in the girl’s light laughter.

Shu composed himself, “Indeed, they do smell lovely.”

“Once they cool down, we’ll be able to decorate them, okay?” 

Shu nodded, watching Arashi go off in search of frosting and icing. He watched as she moved, reaching up to the highest cupboards and bending down to the lowest of cabinets. She looked so...happy, genuinely happy. If this had occurred months ago, Arashi would’ve held such a sour expression at having to deal with Shu for so long. Times have certainly changed, and Shu felt the need to apologize for his actions in the early stages of their relationship. 

He wouldn’t just yet, though. It simply wasn’t the time.

“What’re you staring at, Itsuki~?” Arashi teased. Shu blushed, he was too absorbed in his thoughts to notice her coming over with tubs of frosting in her arms.

Shu tried to keep his composure, “A-ah, nothing, really. I was zoning out, my apologies.”

Arashi chuckled, “That’s okay, no need to apologize.” She set the frosting on the counter and lightly tapped the cookies , “The cookies seem to have cooled down enough, so let’s get to decorating!”

Shu smiled and walked over to Arashi’s side, “Is this your favorite part of baking, Narukami?”

“It is! I love taking creative liberty over how I want them to look. It’s freeing, in a way.” 

“I can heavily relate to that. I think the same thing when I create costumes.”

“Is that so? I suppose we have a bit more in common than I thought!” The girl laughed. Shu joined her, and they smiled at their shared ideology. 

Those smiles stayed as they stared at each other. Indigo met purple as they gazed into each other’s eyes, and it made Shu feel...warm. It was comforting, and it felt like home. She held so much love in her eyes, love that seeped out of her like a pheromone. That love she held would always pull you in. It pulled Shu in, that’s for sure. She was so easy to love.

Arashi was lovable, and Shu couldn’t help the growing urge to tell her that.

Arashi was first to snap out of the haze they were in, “A-ah! Sorry about that. I guess it was my turn to zone out, hehe!” 

Shu nodded in understanding, but couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed at the breaking of eye contact. Arashi then handed the boy a tub of red frosting, “Let’s start decorating, shall we?”

They did, and Shu began with something simple: a red heart. Shu had always prided himself in his artistic abilities, so he was confident in his skills to make a perfectly coated cookie. However, that confidence soon fell, as the boy forgot that he was an expert at  _ sewing_, not cookie decorating. Shu had found the task to be quite difficult. Frosting got all over his fingers and the table, and at some point he grew so frustrated he almost snapped the cookie in two. He wouldn’t give up, however, and found himself reflecting on what Arashi kept repeating to him when they rolled out the dough. 

“With the dough... _ with  _ the dough...” He muttered to himself. 

“Itsuki? Is something wrong?” Shu had spoken a bit too loudly, and Arashi had heard his murmuring.

“O-oh!” Shu snapped out of the trance he had put himself in, “I’m okay. Apologies for, erm, disrupting you.”

Arashi chuckled, “You didn’t disrupt me at all! I was just, ah...” She trailed off, not finishing her sentence. She then went back to decorating her cookie, which looked like a little green flower.

Shu couldn’t help but feel curious as to what Arashi was going to say. Was she annoyed, concerned? Maybe she was checking to see if Shu was okay? The last option seemed less likely than the others, but Shu figured it’d be better to just hope that was the case.

They both continued with their cookie decorating. Arashi had attempted to try and help Shu pivot his frosting-covered knife around the curves of the heart, but he refused, not wanting another incident like their dough-rolling one. He got the hang of it soon enough, though.

As he worked, Shu would occasionally glance over to Arashi. He watched as she glided her knife over the small cookie, covering every inch with green frosting perfectly. She was meticulous about the details, Shu noticed, just like him. At one point, Shu felt a little rebellious and glanced at Arashi’s face instead of her hands.

Oh, how proud she looked.

She smiled down at her work, occasionally humming to herself in satisfaction. Sometimes strands of hair would get in the way of her line of vision, and she would blow upwards to push it out of the way (and, no, Shu  _definitely_ didn’t get the urge to tuck it out of her face himself, no way). No matter how long he stared, though, the girl’s smile never faded.

Shu thought it was quite pretty.

“Done with this one! How is yours coming along, Itsuki?” The boy looked away as quickly as he could before Arashi could notice his staring. He looked at his half-finished cookie in shame.

“It’s, erm-”

Arashi sighed, “And I thought you were the great Shu Itsuki of Valkyrie. Really, haven’t you learned how to manage your time better?” Teasing, again.

“I’m sorry.” Shu muttered. His voice was so quiet that even he could barely catch it. An apology had slipped out, something Shu hardly ever said aloud. What was he even apologizing to her for? 

More fittingly, he supposed, what  _ wasn’t _ he apologizing to Arashi for?

The girl cocked her head to the side,“Did you say something?” Thank goodness, she didn’t hear him. Shu would’ve never been able to live that down. 

Shu cleared his throat, “I-I meant to say how ironic it was of you to say such a thing, Knights’ little  _ princess_.” He emphasized the last word over-dramatically. 

“What do you mean ‘ironic’?! And don’t call me ‘princess’!”

“I’ll call you whatever I deem fit. As you said, I  am  the great Shu Itsuki, after all.”

“You little-!”

Their regular banter continued on. At some point, the two settled for simply hurling insults at each other, most of which could hardly be called “insults” and were more fittingly deemed “nicknames”. Even as they quarreled, Shu couldn’t help but find it to be a bit  _ fun_. It wasn’t fun to hurt Arashi, of course. Rather, their more playful banter was what brought him some joy. It eased the tension in the atmosphere and made Shu internally chuckle at the stupid nicknames they’d call each other. He felt comfortable like this, so casual and relaxed.

As they teased each other, though, the cookies were soon forgotten.


	4. Chapter 4

“Well, that took...longer than expected.” 

Arashi and Shu watched over the cookies they had just finished decorating. With all the light arguing they were doing, they spent longer than necessary putting frosting, icing and other numerous decorations on their creations. Some were sloppier than others (courtesy of Shu not paying attention), but overall they were the perfect example of homemade cookies.

“No matter! Cookies are made to be eaten, so I’ll do just that.” Arashi then took a purple flower-shaped cookie and took a bite. Her eyes widened as she let out a satisfied hum, “Mmm! This is really tasty!”

“Really?” Shu then took a bite of a cookie that looked like Arashi’s cat, Nyanko, “You’re right, it is quite tasty.” He savored the sugary taste on his tongue. It was sweet, especially with the frosting, but not sickeningly so. The taste was just right.

“Isn’t it though? I’m so glad they came out well!” She took another bite, a wide grin on her face.

As they savored the flavors of their creations, Shu noticed how late it had gotten outside. The sun was on the brink of setting, and the light shining into Arashi’s home was a yellow-orange color. It had shone onto the young girl’s face and hair, giving her appearance a soft glow. The sunlight also reflected onto her eyes, and with the added sparkle from her happiness, the indigo orbs shone beautifully. 

At least, Shu thought it was beautiful.

“Well,” Shu broke their silence, snapping out of his thoughts, “it’s getting late. I’ve overstayed my welcome.”

“Oh, it is late.” Shu thought he caught a sense of disappointment in Arashi’s tone.

“I must get home, anyways. I left Mademoiselle in case we were doing anything messy,” Shu untied the apron around his chest, “which we did. I just don’t want her to be lonely for too long.”

Arashi smiled softly, “I understand, that’s alright. I’ll walk you out, then.”

Shu nodded and hung up the borrowed apron as they left the kitchen. They passed by Nyanko, who was still sleeping, just in a different spot in the hallway. The boy slipped his shoes on as Arashi stood by him at the opened door.

“Oh! Wait here for a second!” The girl blurted out before rushing off back into the house. Shu sighed as he waited in the doorway. 

After a couple minutes, the girl came back with a plastic bag filled with some of the cookies they made, “Here, take these! Make sure to give some to Mika for me, okay? The next time you see him, of course.”

“Of course, thank you, Narukami.” Shu then held a snarky smirk on his face, “You know, it wasn’t  _ too  _ unbearable having to deal with you for the past hours.”

Arashi pouted, “Always so snide. Maybe I’ll just take these  _ wonderful _ cookies back-“

Shu held them away from the girl, “Non! I made most of these with my own two hands! Such effort going into the hands of a little girl would be wasteful!”

“‘Little girl’? I’m the same age as you!” The girl crossed her arms, a frown on her face.

They then burst into a fit of laughter. 

Shu’s stomach began to hurt as he laughed along with Arashi, “My god, we’ve teased each other a lot today.”

“You’re the one who started it!” Arashi said, composing herself. “Now go, Itsuki. No more teasing.” 

“Very well, then.” Shu turned to leave, but stopped, “Really, though, Narukami...”

“Hm?” The girl replied.

“...I actually had quite a lot of fun today. Thank you.” Shu then stepped out of her home to walk to where his ride was parked. He hoped Arashi felt the same way about their activities today.

As he entered the car and drove off, he looked into the bag Arashi had given him. A part of him thought of these cookies as sentimental pieces, and couldn’t imagine taking a bite of them. They were decorated so sweetly, too. He didn’t want to ruin the “masterpieces” they had made. As he gazed over the treats, however, there was one particular cookie that caught his eye, one he didn’t see before.

It was shaped and decorated like chibi versions of Arashi and Shu’s faces, and they held up peace signs while smiling.

It made Shu smile, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for reading !!!! kudos and comments are always appreciated :D i hope you enjoyed !!!


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